The Bill to include Irish citizens in the E3 visa scheme had been brought back up the US Congress which is part of a renewed move to win the support of Congress the visa program.

The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, who is also a Democrat, on Tuesday, made the reintroduction of the bill to the House. The Bill will require the endorsement of the chamber of 435 members and unanimous support of the US Senate before it could be passed into US law.

Late last year, this same proposal to extend the E3 visa scheme to the Irish, gained a lot of progress in the US Congress. Unfortunately, it failed to gain the required support in the US Senate because Tom Cotton, the senator for Arkansas, had blocked the measure. This visa scheme is at the moment, only accessible to Australian citizens.

President Donald Trump, had last month before meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, spoken to Tom Cotton together with the vice president, Mike Pence. It is, however, not certain that Cotton will support the proposal this time. Again, both US Houses of Congress have new members now after the mid-term elections held in November. So this implies that the new members will have to vote on the bill.

The E3 visa has a 2-year validity and allows citizens of Australia to live and work in America with their spouses. It is also renewable.

The E3 is considerably more accessible than the H-1B

Australians applying for this visa are required to first get a job offer in the US and have some academic qualifications and other credentials before they submitting their application. It is way more seamless and pocket-friendly to obtain than the H-1B visa. Its application fee is $250.

Australia raised some concerns regarding the proposal to include Irish citizens on the scheme. For this reason, when the bill passes, the Irish will only apply for it after Australian citizens have applied.

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